Celebration turns rowdy; man, 22, dies

Tuesday

Oct 18, 2011 at 12:01 AMJan 7, 2012 at 10:10 PM

The fatal shooting of a Stockton man late Saturday was the violent finale of what should have been a joyous occasion - a girl's quinceañera celebration, according to the president of the sports club outside which the shooting took place.

Alex Breitler

The fatal shooting of a Stockton man late Saturday was the violent finale of what should have been a joyous occasion - a girl's quinceañera celebration, according to the president of the sports club outside which the shooting took place.

Cesar Reynoso, 22, was shot multiple times after a "large disturbance" about 11 p.m., sheriff's officials have said. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died. No arrests have been reported.

The Amblers Club is hidden in an affluent pocket of the Country Club neighborhood, west of Interstate 5 and backing up against the north side of Smith Canal. The sports club, although declining in size, has served the neighborhood for decades.

Its parking lot was nearly empty Monday, but a strand of crime scene tape hanging on a telephone pole was a clue that something very chaotic had happened less than 48 hours earlier.

"Nobody dreams that this happens at a 15-year-old girl's birthday party," said Marcus Felton, the club's acting president. "This was supposed to be a coming out for a young woman, not a funeral for some boy."

While deputies have provided few details, Felton said Monday that the shooting happened in the parking lot.

The party inside the 300-capacity hall had gotten too rowdy, and club staffers, including a bartender and a host, began to shut down the celebration.

The shooting took place as revelers were leaving the club, Felton said. Security guards were on scene and called 911.

The Amblers Club rents out its hall to raise money and keep the club going, Felton said. He said there's never been trouble before.

He also said the club will no longer provide its facilities for quinceañera celebrations because they seem to be increasingly violent. In May, 40-year-old Arthur Lumbab of Stockton died after a shooting during a quinceañera at the Stockton Ballroom on Thornton Road.

Reynoso, the latest victim, had gone to Weston Ranch High School, according to his Facebook page. He was from San Jose, although he lived in Stockton.

By Monday afternoon, dozens of friends and family members posted messages grieving his death.